The Cure
by ekjd4etnty
Summary: COMPLETELY AU! You'll have to read to see.....
1. Chapter 1

Two year old Brooke walked up to her mother, her arms outstretched. "I had a bad seeing," mumbled the child. "We were in another time and we were older and we were different." Slowly Brooke's mother placed her hands against the child's face. She was still too young to know how to guard her thoughts, and so the girl's mother was able to receive the girl's memories as her own. Her eyes opened wide. She must tell her queen; she had finally realized what the portents meant. The cure to their problems wasn't in medicine or in anything they had tried before. In order to save her people, the queen had to make a drastic decision. The woman stumbled as she ran into the queen's bedchamber. "My queen," she said, eyeing the princess sleeping near. "The cure lies in the past."


	2. Chapter 2

"Aaaaaahhhhh!" Haley James screamed as she awoke from an awful nightmare. She switched on the light as she threw her hand to her chest. She could feel the pounding of her heart as loud as her parents' footsteps running down the hall. Once they opened the door, embarrassment made her cheeks flush. What sixteen-year-old had nightmares that made her scream at all hours of the night? Her mother, Cassandra, Cassy to her closest friends, and her father, Alexander, or Alex asked her what was wrong? Was she ok? Did she need anything? She must have given them answers because the next thing she knew, she was fast asleep, dreaming about the next morning--the first day of school at Tree Hill High.

R-R-R-I-I-I-N-N-N-G-G-G! The shrill of the alarm clock next to her bed brought Haley out of her deep, and peaceful, slumber. Haley rolled over to look at the 'thing' that dare wake her up. It read 6:45. _**Perfect, **_she thought, as her feet hit her bedroom floor and walked the rest of her body to the closet. "Now to find something to wear," she muttered.

Now, let me tell you, Haley was not your average sixteen-year-old, if such a thing exists. She belonged to the popular group, was very smart, and had looks to die for. With her shoulder length blonde hair, and deep brown eyes, she was the envy of every girl, and the goddess of every guy. So it wasn't a surprise that the perfect outfit wasn't found until 7:15. After showering, putting on her makeup, and doing her hair, Haley finally got dressed. She headed downstairs for breakfast dressed in a black micro-miniskirt and a white tank top.

Cassy and Alex exchanged looks as they saw what their only daughter planned on wearing to school. Haley sat down at the table, seemingly aware of what her parents were thinking ate a bowl of Corn Flakes, and walked out the door.

By the time she'd arrived at the bus stop, her feet were killing her. _**Maybe I shouldn't have worn these shoes, **_Haley thought, as she adjusted the straps of the three-inch-high heels. Upon standing up, Haley noticed that her best friend, Brooke Davis, was walking up the street to meet her. (Haley had a lot of surface, lets-hang-out-at-the-mall friends, but Brooke was the only one she could really talk to.) Brooke was almost the exact opposite of Haley. That's what brought them together in the third grade. Contrary to Haley's pure blonde hair and baby blues, Brooke's hair, the color of ebony, was cut just above her chin, and her deep green eyes were truly the windows to her soul. She wore her heart on her sleeve, and Haley's was buried deep inside her. However, both were about 5' 4, and although skinny, had curves in all the right places.

Brooke and Haley exchanged HI's and walked up the bus steps. Brooke got many a glance, what with her short beige skirt and form-hugging red shirt. Just as the bus was pulling away, Lucas Scott, a tall boy with deep blue eyes, and light brown hair, ran up the street. "Wait!" yelled Brooke and Haley at the same time. The driver stepped on the break, the door creaked open, and Lucas ran up the steps. As soon as he saw Haley, his eyes lit up. She smiled in return. They'd been dating for the past three years. Lucas slid into the space she left as she moved over, and lightly kissed her on the forehead.

Brooke was sitting with her boyfriend, Jake Jagelski. Jake, like Lucas, was tall and his brown hair and golden eyes made him look exotic. Jake and Lucas were best friends, and Lucas was responsible for introducing Jake to Brooke when he and Haley started to date. Both girls had the 'ideal' couple. They were cheerleaders, and Lucas and Jake were on the basketball team, The Tree Hill Ravens.

Haley looked at all of her best friends. _**I'm so lucky to have friends like this**_ she thought,_**I can trust them all completely. **_Jake and Lucas were like Brooke. The only guy friends she could talk to.

The bus chugged up the hill, then rolled down the other side. A few miles later, it came to its last stop. Haley saw about fifteen kids standing there, and while she waited for them to get on the bus, gave them mental makeovers. She was still doing this as the students found a place to sit, when suddenly, a girl started to walk to the back of the bus. Back to where Haley, Lucas, Brooke, and Jake were sitting.

"What's up with her?" Haley asked Brooke. "Do you think she's new or something?" _**Everyone knows that the back seats belong to us!**_Haley thought as Brooke shrugged. The girl continued to walk to the back of the bus, with everyone staring at her as if she'd grown a tail. The bus started to move and the girl sat down across from Brooke and Jake. They noticed that she was almost too skinny, and her curly blonde hair looked almost white. One look at the girl, and you could tell that she was unpopular. In fact, it looked like she had no friends at all.

Haley was about to tell the girl the seats were saved, or something, when suddenly the girl turned to face them.

"Look," she said, tears streaming down her face. "I'm only sitting here today. I don't really want anyone to see me cry."

Haley glanced at Jake, who nodded to show that he agreed with her story. "Well, what's wro..." he started to say, before he was silenced by a look from Brooke.

"No, it's ok," the girl answered, noticing the look. "Well, let me start by introducing myself. I'm Peyton. Peyton Sawyer."

"I'm Jake, and these are my friends, Haley and Lucas, and this is my girlfriend, Brooke." He pointed to each person as he said his or her name. They each nodded hi.

"Hi. I'm really sorry about takin' this seat. But, like I said, I don't want anyone to see me cry. Ya see, I just got into a fight with my parents this morning, and on the way to school, Madison Seedtrie, my best friend, and I had this huge blowout," rambled the grey-eyed tomboy.

Another nod from Jake confirmed this.

"Ok," Haley said." Information overload."

By the time this was over, the bus had arrived at the school. As everyone was unloading, Peyton again apologized for taking the seat and thanked everyone for listening. Before he could be stopped, Jake asked Peyton if she would like to sit by them at lunch. She, of course, accepted.

"What?!" Jake replied as he turned to face two very angry girls, and one very amused best friend.

"Honestly! You know she can't hang around us! She might find out!" Haley was practically screaming.

"Calm down, Haley," Lucas said. "She won't find out anything as long as we're careful."

"Yeah, Hales," Brooke reassured her while shooting looks of death at her boyfriend, mad at him for upsetting her best friend. "She won't find out anything."

"I hope you're right. Now, let's go before we're late," Haley said as she started to walk into the school, her usual 'tude back in place.

Brooke recognized her tone of voice. It was the one she used to mask her emotions, and she had only heard her sound so scared and defeated once before.

As soon as Haley got into the school, she walked to her homeroom, the same one as last year. She was really happy that the school had kept up the tradition of having homeroom start earlier than usual on the first day of school. She really didn't want to have to go into the student's lounge and put up the false pretense of being ok. She tuned in from her daydream when the teacher called her name. She went up to his desk and received her locker number, combination and books for the first semester. As the bell rang, she stood up and went to find locker number 123. After some searching, she turned the little dial to 06-22-15. Magically it opened on the first try. She looked over her schedule: History, Biology, Study Hall, Lunch, Psychology, and College Algebra, and threw her Psyc and Algebra books into her locker, along with her lunch. As she was heading down the hall to find room 109, History, she heard a noise coming from around the corner. Picking up her pace, she rounded the corner, and saw a tall boy with dark black hair, and breathtaking baby blues. He was dressed casually in baggy jeans and a short-sleeved black shirt over a beater. Haley always thought that that style looked good on Lucas, but this guy looked amazing in it, although his red face didn't match the rest of the outfit. "Wow," she muttered, then more loudly, "Hey, do you need some help?"

The boy's books were sprawled all over the floor. "Thanks," he said, bending down without meeting her eyes. "I'm Nathan Lee."

"Hi, Nathan, I'm Hal..."

"I know who you are," he said, still avoiding eye contact. "Well, thanks for the help, but I gotta go." And off he ran. Away from Haley.

_**Strange,**_Haley thought as she looked at the closest room number, right behind her, 126, then at her watch. _**Oh, crap! I only have three more minutes left, and I have to go all the way back down the hall.**_She started to run.

_**Oh, man, I hope that Haley's ok,**_Lucas thought as he entered his homeroom. He knew how talking about the 'forbidden topic' got her scared, and the thought of someone finding out, forget about it. Major meltdown, worse that Chernobyl.

_**Oh, well, we've dealt with this once before, we can do it again,**_he thought as he took his seat. A few minutes later, Lucas was given his locker number, his combination, and his books for the first half of the year, which he fondly referred to as 'The Living Hell', the second half was referred to as 'Hell On Earth'. A few seconds before the bell rang, he stood up and started to walk out of the room. When he reached the door, the bell rang, and he smiled to himself, _**Not a bad way to start the year. **_He went to his locker, 158, turned the combo, 23-47-02, shoved in the books he didn't need, and walked to first period. Lucas mentally reviewed the game plan; Biology, English, Study Hall, Lunch, Industrial Technology, College Algebra. He was turning the corner when he heard the unmistakable sound of books hitting the floor. Lucas quickened his pace, trying to get there to help. When he finally rounded the corner, he saw that the boy had already found some help. A girl. _His _girl. He could only stare in silence as he watched Haley crouch down in _that_ way, and help the boy with his books.And, Lucas was at a loss of words as he saw the boy's eyes travel from the tip of her toes up her body, stop at her lips, and continue. He noticed that the boy didn't even make eye contact. As he brought himself back from the land of self-pity, he heard the last of their conversation, "...but I gotta go," and he saw the girl of his dreams follow the boy with her eyes until he was out of her sight, glance at her watch, turn around, and run down the hall. He didn't even attempt to plaster a smile on his face as he went into Room 126.

The day passed on pretty quickly, and before Haley knew it, it was time for lunch. _**Here goes nothing...**_she thought as she walked over to the table where Lucas, Brooke, Jake, and that girl, Peyton, were already sitting. Even though both she and Brooke had Biology with Peyton just last period, and Brooke seemed to think she was pretty okay, Haley wasn't too sure about Peyton just yet. She approached the table with slight hesitation and caution. It would be the first time that they would all be together, not including study hall, but the boys had sat on one side of the library and Brooke, Peyton, and Haley hadn't been able to find seats together. Lucas moved over a seat, indicating that she was supposed to sit next to her. As soon as Haley's butt hit the seat, she felt him place his arm around her. _**Weird**_she thought, _**why is he acting like he has to advertise that we're a couple. As if no one knows. **_She shrugged, and Lucas removed his arm, frowning, but taking the hint.

Brooke shot Haley a curious look as she talked to Peyton. "So," she asked, "how long do you think your parents will be mad?"

_**Brooke knows something's up with me and Lucas, and she wants info.**_Haley analyzed. _**But, I don't even know what's wrong**_ She tuned back into the conversation, shooting an 'I don't know' look Brooke's way.

"Not sure," Peyton said between mouthfuls. "We hardly ever fight."

"Oh, how 'bout Madison?" Jake asked.

"Probably a day or so. And if it's any longer, I'll just have to do something about it," Peyton replied, clearly wanting to get off the subject of Madison. Fast.

What did Peyton mean by 'do something about it'? Brooke and Haley exchanged looks, and then shot them at their boyfriends, as if to say, _**See, I told you this was a **_bad_** idea.**_The guys, being guys, either didn't get the message, or they pretended not to know what the girls were talking about. Obviously, no one was going to ask Peyton what she meant, because the next thing that came out of Jake's mouth completely changed the subject.

"So, Peyton, do you have a boyfriend of anything?"

"No. No one has really caught my eye," she replied, blushing.

"Why do I feel like I know you or something?" Haley blurted out.

"Yea," Brooke agreed. "I feel the same way."

Jake and Lucas exchanged glances. They felt it too.

"Maybe we knew each other in a different lifetime or something." Peyton mumbled.

Peyton knew this was true. She also knew what her 'lunch-time buddies' were. Her parents had told her. They had also told her things she didn't want to know. Horrible things. Things about their past, and about her future. The future that involved her new friends. She would have to tell Haley, Lucas, Brooke, and Jake about it soon.

"Maybe," Brooke echoed as the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. Everyone waved good-bye as they headed to their next class.

Lucas watched as Haley headed off to Psyc., Brooke to Debate, and Peyton to Art. He waved for Jake to hurry up. They were going to walk to their next class, Industrial Technology, together.

Jake and Lucas joked, as best friends often do, on the way to Industrial Technology. As they proudly walked into the classroom, they noticed that the only seats available were near the blonde hared guy in the back. He was dressed in baggy jeans and a short-sleeved black shirt over a beater. _**Oh, man,**_Lucas thought. _**What is this? A gift from the gods of irony? Or just a sick joke?**_

"Mr. Scott, Mr. Jagelski? Can you two please take your seats?"

Lucas and Jake sat down and the teacher took role.

_**Scott? **_the boy thought. _**Oh shit! Just my luck!**_

"Where's Nathan Lee?" the teacher asked.

"Here." Nathan replied as he saw Lucas glare at him.

_**So, pretty-boy's name is Nathan? **_Lucas thought._** How sweet.**_

"What about the saying, 'Love at first sight'?" Haley asked her teacher as soon as she'd finished role. "I mean...psychologically speaking, what does the saying mean?"

"Well, Haley, that's a good question. By saying that someone fell in love at first sight, you may be implying that the person is fickle, that they fall in and out of things very quickly... Or you could mean that a person was so...blown away by someone that they thought that they had fallen in love... Of course, it could also mean..."

"Yeah, but what if a person thought they fell in love at first sight, but they were already in a relationship with another person that they had gradually fallen for and come to love?"

"That is an interesting thought... Anyone care to offer his or her opinions? Anna?"

"Well," Anna began, "maybe it could mean that the person only thought that she fell in love with the other guy, not her boyfriend, because she was thrown off her axis for a minute... Like it was something different about the other boy that she might have found attractive, but only for a minute... "

"Good analysis... Shelly?"

"Maybe she only thought she was in love with her boyfriend... Maybe she is really supposed to be with this other guy but she doesn't know it yet..."

"Ok... That answers my question... Thanks for your help," Haley responded as the bell rang.

"Brooke!" Haley yelled as she noticed her friend walking up the stairs to room 216.

"Hey, Hales," Brooke responded. "What's up? How was Psyc?"

"Good. Listen, if I tell you something, do you swear not to freak?"

"Yeah, 'course I do."

"I mean really-really swear..."

"Yes! Geeze! Just tell me already."

"There's this guy I met this morning..."

"Yeah, so? What about him?"

"I... Well, I..."

"Spit it out."

"I felt attracted to him... I've never felt that way before, not even with Lucas."

"Ooook. This is bad, right? I mean, _really _bad."

Haley nodded.

"Ok. Then let's go over to your house today, right after school, and we'll figure it out. We'll invite the guys over too, ok? Are your parents going to be home? And I think we should invite Peyton, too. I don't know why, I just feel drawn to her, and she can use friends like us..."

_**You are so totally babbling! **_Haley thought, but she didn't call her on it. "Sure," she said, dazed. All of the sudden she felt a little light-headed. _**I have to invite Peyton. **_The thought just produced itself in her mind. She nodded. "Come on," she said, snapping out of her trance-like state. "We don't want to be late."

Lucas let out the breath he'd been holding for the whole class. He just couldn't figure out why this Nathan guy imitated him so much. _**I have at least 25 pounds on the guy, and I'm about two inches taller. Why am I so scared?**_Glancing at the boy again, he felt all the tiny hairs on the back of his neck stand up on end. He kept his eyes a little to the side of Nathan's back, and that's how he saw the writing on the back of Nathan's notebook.

**Nathan +Haley**

**Jake +Peyton**

**Lucas +Brooke**

_**Where do I know that from? **_Lucas wondered. _**And why is my name and the names of my best friends, not to mention my girlfriend's, name on his notebook?**_

The six teenagers entered College Algebra as a unit. Unbeknownst to all except Peyton and Nathan, of course. Haley, Brooke, Jake and Lucas quickly took seats in the back while Peyton and Nathan conversed without words near the front of the room. Then, as it they shared a brain, the two outcasts quickly made their way to the back of the room, sitting much like the arrangement Lucas had seen on Nathan's notebook.

Finally, 2:55 rolled around and the last bell of the day rang. Haley, Lucas, Jake, Brooke, and Peyton all got on Bus 10 for the ride home. Peyton had just sat down (again in the back) when Haley said," Hey, guys, wanna come over to my house today? Peyton, you too." Everyone nodded yes, and within five minutes, they all got off the bus and walked the short distance to Haley's house, Brooke and Haley talking off their shoes as soon as their feet hit the sidewalk. Haley let her friends in through the front door, quickly listening for any sounds indicating that her parents might be home. They weren't, and so they all went upstairs to her room. Lucas and Jake quickly called home, letting their parents know where they were, then handed the telephone to Brooke. She waved it away explaining, "My parents know that if I'm not at home and didn't call that I'm at Haley's... Plus, I told them I'd probably be coming over after school anyway."

"Oh, ok," Peyton shrugged and dialed her telephone number. Lucas and Jake busied themselves looking at old yearbooks, and Haley and Brooke communicated without words as best friends often do. All were eavesdropping, though subtly, to Peyton's one-sided conversation with her parents, "Yes... No, they don't know yet... Of course I'll tell them...As soon as I get the chance... They met him, yes... No it was not my doing... I'll just walk home or something... Ok... Yeah... Bye...Yeah, I love you, too."

"So," Haley said as Peyton handed the telephone back to her. No one mentioned the conversation that had him or her all baffled. "What do you want to do? We could watch TV, or play a game, or rent a movie, go swimming, or... What?"

"How about... Truth Or Dare?" Peyton suggested.

"Yeah!" Everyone answered. "Good idea!"

" Ok. Everyone sit in a circle." Haley instructed. "Who wants to start?"

" I will," Peyton volunteered. "This is for... Jake. What are you afraid of? Truth Or Dare?"

"Truth. I'm afraid that I might hurt someone's feelings, or offend them."

"Makes sense," Peyton murmured. "Ok, Brooke, you're next. What do you wish you could do? Truth Or Dare?"

"Defiantly truth. I wish I could turn invisible."

Haley was becoming very suspicious of Peyton. Why weren't her friends lying? They knew the dangers of telling an outsider the truth. She was about to stop the game when Peyton interrupted her thoughts. "You, Haley, are my next victim. What's the neatest dream you ever had? Truth Or Dare?"

Haley had heard Peyton ask the question and was about to pick dare but something in her innermost heart of hearts told her to tell the truth. To trust Peyton. "Well," Haley started, caution wavering her voice slightly, "I usually dream that I'm something else. Like a frog, or a lizard, or an animal. Ya know?"

Peyton nodded, "Only one more to go. Lucas, close your eyes. What's the first thing that comes to your mind, Truth Or Dare?

"I see myself flying, like Superman, only not as dorky."

"I thought so," Peyton replied. "You guys, I have to show you something." She pulled a notebook out of her backpack, which was behind her, under Haley's desk. "Before we came here today, I wrote down the question that I would ask each of you, then what I thought your answer would be. Have a look."

Slowly Brooke, Jake, Haley, and Lucas each took the card that was handed to him or her. Peyton had printed each person's name on the top of his or her card. Their question followed then the predicted answer.

Haley's mouth dropped. "Ohmygod!" she whispered. Looking at the rest of her friends, she quickly deducted that their cards showed exactly what her's had. The predicted answer had to do with their power, just as her's had.

"Who...no...what are you?" Lucas finally asked, noticeable fear in his voice.

"Well, ya see, that's the thing. I'm a normal kid --- in the year 5000, anyway," Peyton said, trying to explain. "And when my parents 'moved' here, it really wasn't their choice...or mine..."

"Wait," Brooke said, "5000? That's, like three thousand years away."

" Yeah. Who are you?" Lucas asked again. "And what does this have to do with us?"

"Well, you just told me something about yourselves, and proved it with the cards, that identifies yourselves as the people I'm looking for. The people who's parents traveled back in time with mine. We also traveled back in time, but our memories were, how can I put this... Scrambled up, I guess, so that we would think that we were normal kids until, of course, we were old enough to control our powers, which would be when we had matured, and use them in good judgement and until we could understand the reasons for why our traveled back more than three thousand years in the past..." Peyton would have continued babbling if Lucas hadn't interrupted her.

"What are you talking about?" Lucas asked. "Are you on too much medication, or not enough? You think we traveled back _three thousand_ years in time? You're nuts!"

"Wait," Peyton said desperately. "Hear me out."

"Ok! Enough!" Jake said, doing some damage control. "Let's hear the whole story," he said, looking both Lucas then Peyton in the eye.

"About two years ago, I was eating dinner with my parents when suddenly I realized that I could hear their thoughts. They were thinking things that I couldn't possibly understand. Things like how much easier it was before...but also about how dangerous it was. They kept on thinking about how they had to leave so much behind. Like, for instance, the molecular transporter and the in-space carnivals. Stupid things like that." Peyton paused. "But mostly, they thought of my grandparents, and how they didn't even exist yet...that they wouldn't even be born for another 2,925 years! I don't know why I did it then, but I asked them what they meant. They were surprised that I'd even spoken since no one was talking about anything at the moment. They asked me what _I _was talking about, and so I just repeated everything that I'd just overheard. I continued to watch them sit in silence, their mouths hanging open ---" she smiled a bit, "That's when they told me that they had traveled back in time. And that your parents did, too. They brought us with them."

"We always knew that there was something different about us," Lucas said as Peyton paused for a breath. "We just never imagined it was something like this."

"We always thought we were freaks, or, like, an experiment gone wrong," Jake added. "I mean, for the past three years or so, Haley was able to change her shape into whatever she wanted to be... Brooke could become invisible, especially," he added, "when she was embarrassed...Lucas was able to fly...and I could read auras...know how people were feeling, that sort of thing... And now you tell us that you're one of us! Well, let's just throw a fricken' party!" Jake was almost screaming by now. "Sorry, "he apologized, "just got a little carried away...so, what's your power?"

"I can get into people's heads, into their thoughts, know what they are thinking... That sort of thing."

"Ok. Then is it safe to assume that you can also implant thoughts?" Jake asked.

"How did you know that?" Peyton demanded.

"Remember, he can read auras... He can probably 'see' that you are holding back something. You've forgotten that we've been doing this longer than you have." Haley turned to Jake, "Am I right?"

"Got it in one, Haley. But there's still one more thing Peyton's not telling us, right, Peyton?"

"Right again, Jake. Do you want a cookie?" Peyton replied with a hint of sarcasm.

"Yes please. Chocolate chip, if you don't mind," Jake joked, lightening the mood a little.

"Sorry, but there _is_ one more thing that you should know. One more person that I, you, we... that we need to find. His name is Nathan ---"

Haley's head whipped around.

"Nathan Lee, and his power, being able to teleport is _vital_ to our survival. He's a tenth grader at Tree Hill, too. But he's sort of a loner. However, we do have something on him, he's been in love with Haley ever since he's known who she was." At this Haley blushed and lowered her eyes, refusing to look at Lucas, who was fuming.

"Did you get any more information about Nathan from your parents?" asked Brooke, who had been silent during the whole ordeal.

"Yeah, his parents and mine have been the only ones of the travelers who've kept in touch."

"Then," Brooke asked, irritation creeping into her voice, "why isn't he here, listening to you blather away?''

"Hey, don't take this out on me," began Peyton. "The thing is, Nathan won't accept who he is. Believe me, I've tried to ---"

"If he won't accept who he is, why does he have our names on his notebook?'' Lucas asked.

"_What_?" Peyton said.

"Our names are on his notebook, like this..." Lucas grabbed a piece of paper and a pen and quickly wrote what he had seen on Nathan's notebook.

"I don't know why... maybe something's changed. Does anyone have an idea about how we could get him to meet with us?"

"Actually, yeah." Jake replied. "Here's what we'll do..." he whispered, drawing the others nearer, especially Peyton, who he realized was making him feel, well, alive.

"Ok," Haley said, glancing at the clock. It read 7:45. "It's getting late and I think we all need a little time to process this information. Let's meet here again tomorrow after school, ok?"

Everyone nodded yes as they left each heading home to deal with his or her thoughts. Privately.


	3. Chapter 3

Haley woke up the next morning feeling groggy and out of place. She put on her baggiest pair of jeans and a peasant top, then wandered downstairs to see what her parents had left her for breakfast. She spied an opened box of pastries on the counter near the sink. _**I just love it when they go back to work,**_she thought. Some kids loved having their families hang around all day, but not Haley. _**And, when your parents are "a very prestigious doctor" and "one of the best female lawyers in the history of the United States", **_she thought, quoting form a magazine article she'd recently read,_**they're gone quite a bit.**_ Haley grabbed a jelly-filled pastry, and, making sure not to make a mess, walked over to the fridge. Opening it, she saw that her mom hadn't forgotten to get a bunch of those little juices in plastic containers. Haley grabbed an orange juice, her lunch money from off the table, robbed the key rack of her house key, and walked out the door.

As she neared the bus stop, Haley noticed that Lucas and Brooke were already there, both looking a lot like she was feeling.

"Hey," Haley mumbled, not really expecting an answer. "We've gotta talk. Everyone at my house again? And maybe we'll convince Nathan to be there, too." Haley had just finished talking when she saw the bus pull up. As she walked up the stairs, she heard a series of gasps, ohmygods, and lots of whispers. It took her a second to realize that everyone was looking at Lucas, Brooke, and her. "What the hell?" she asked Brooke, grogginess creeping into her voice. Brooke shrugged. As Haley looked at Brooke, Lucas and finally at herself, it hit her.

"Ohmygod!" Haley screeched in a whisper. "Look at out clothes!"

Brooke and Lucas looked at their outfits, than gasped as well. In a pair of baggy sweatpants and an old sweatshirt, Brooke looked like anything but the popular cheerleader she was. Lucas, resembling one of the unpopular 'wannabe's' rather than basketball champ, was dressed in a bright orange pair of pants and a lime green shirt.

"Shit!" Lucas yelled amongst muffled laughter and giggling. "Ok," he said in a calmer, quieter voice, "let's all get off the bus, change, and I'll dive us to school. Brooke? Brooke, are you listening?" He had turned around only to find Brooke slowly backing up, shaking her head. "Brooke?" he grabbed her shoulders, shaking them a little. "Brooke, get control of yourself. You're starting to disappear."

Although he was whispering, Brooke heard the anxiety in Lucas's voice. Snapping out of her trance, Brooke took a deep breath. _**Good thing it was only my feet,**_ she thought as she followed Lucas and Haley off the bus. When her now visible feet hit the pavement, she realized that Jake was right behind her... and so was Peyton.

"What's wrong?" Peyton asked as everyone practically ran to Haley's house.

"Well, Haley, Brooke, and I all look like some kind of zombie-pod-people with really bad taste," Lucas explained. Then he turned to Jake. "Hey, will you walk with me to my house so that I can change? We'll leave the girls here to change, then I'll take all of us to school in my car."

"Sure," Jake replied. "Brooke, Hales, can I talk to you for a second?"

Haley and Brooke turned around just as they were about to walk into Haley's room. "We'll only be a sec," Haley told Peyton as she, Brooke, Lucas, and Jake stayed in the hall, leaving Peyton to look around Haley's room, and feel very out of place.

"Will you guys do me a huge favor?" Jake started.

"Oh, boy, here we go..." mumbled Brooke and Haley at the same time.

"Hey," Jake said smirking, "I heard that. Seriously, though, do you think you could get Peyton to feel like a part of the group? Give her a little, and I said and mean _little_, makeover before we go to school? Give her some confidence?"

"Do we have to?" whined Haley, but Jake wasn't fooled. He could see the smile pulling at the corners of her mouth. She loved giving makeovers. And so did Brooke. It was like people were their very own dolls that they could dress up and play with.

"So you will?" Jake asked, just to be sure.

"Yeah, but you know that she has to agree, right?" Brooke asked.

Jake nodded as Lucas pulled him down the stairs and out the door. "We'll be back in about forty-five minutes."

"Good, 'cause school starts at nine o'clock!" Brooke yelled down.

"Peyton?" Haley cried running into her bedroom. "Can Brooke and I give you a makeover?"

"Ookkaaayy," Peyton said, hesitant at the idea.

"Yea!" Haley and Brooke squealed, jumping up and down.

"Ok," Haley said, taking charge. "It's about eight o'clock now, so we have until eight forty-five to get ready. That's when the guys will be back to pick us up. Brooke, go and get outfits for each of us while I get out the makeup and hair stuff. Peyton, help Brooke then get undressed."

They all ran off, doing their assigned job, giggling.

Lucas kept on taking little glances at Jake as they jogged over to his house. Jake finally snapped, "WHAT??!!??"

"Can I tell you something? About Haley?" Lucas ventured.

"Sure."

"I'm kinda getting the feeling that she, I don't know, likes someone else or something." Lucas blurted out, waiting for Jake's denial of how that could never happen, and that Haley loved Lucas and that she always would. Instead, Jake looked at him and asked, "Why?"

"Oh, I don't know. Yesterday she was making' eyes at this guy. Ya know, the ones she used to make for me and me only. Like he was her whole world. Then when Peyton told us about that Nathan guy, I saw her get this look, I guess, in her eyes."

Jake nodded. "So, do you know who 'this Nathan guy' is?"

"Yeah. He sits by us in Tech. And he was the same guy Hales was makin' goo-goo eyes at."

"Brutal."

"That's it? That's all you can say??!! 'Brutal'??!!" Lucas exclaimed.

"Well, I kinda got some problems of my own to deal with." Jake informed him. "I called Peyton last night and told her that I had to talk to her this morning, so she got a ride to my house before the bus came to pick me up. You won't believe what she told me."

"Do I even have to guess?" Lucas groaned.

"She told me that her parents told her a lot more. She just didn't want to overload us yesterday, which is why she didn't tell us."

"Well, that makes sense," Lucas said.

"Hello! Lips moving, sound coming out!" Jake exclaimed.

"Oh, sorry, _Haley._"

"Shut-up. So as I was saying. Her parents said that they would continue to tell her more stuff in time and that Peyton was to tell us. Then she told me that everything would change once Haley met Nathan, which, according to you, just happened. She said that all our relationships would pretty much end and we would 'reunite' with our soul mates. You and Brooke, me and Peyton, Haley and Nathan."

"But, but, but…that's…" Lucas stammered.

Jake looked at him. "It's written in the stars, dude."

"I don't believe it. First, this Nathan guy really messes stuff up by not accepting who he is, and then he goes and screws around with our relationships. This is...unacceptable." Lucas stated.

"Well," Jake reasoned, "acceptable or not, it's gonna happen. You'll see. Everything happens for a reason."

"Man, this year sucks." Lucas whined.

Jake laughed to himself. The year was only beginning...

"Peyton, I think you'd look great in this." Brooke held up a short, hot pink leather skirt and a black tube top.

"Oh...wow...ummmm, don't you think that it would look better on you, or Haley?" Peyton asked, not too sure of herself.

"No," Haley jumped in; shocked that Peyton could turn down such a cool outfit. "Brooke and I already have our outfits," she said pointing to the bed, "you have to wear this. Please, please, please," Brooke joined Haley's pleading, "please, please, ple..."

"Ok, ok," laughed Peyton, finding their childish pleading hilarious. "I'll wear the outfit."

"Good. Now Brooke will do your hair while I do your makeup." Haley said, pulling both girls over to her vanity.

"Why are you doing this?" Peyton asked as the hair near the front of her part was being braided into tiny braids and coiled into a mass near the back of her head.

"Doing what?" Haley and Brooke asked in union, then giggled.

"_This_..." she said waiving her hands around, indicating the new outfit, hair and makeup. "Ya know, I've never really had any girl friends. It really appreciate everything that you're doing."

"What do you mean, 'never really had any girlfriends'. What about that girl you mentioned yesterday? Madison?" asked a confused Brooke.

"Oh, her. She's well, she's the kind of real that, well, isn't. She doesn't exist." Peyton said quietly.

"Oh. Well. Peyton, is it ok if I use this on you? Are you allergic or anything?" Haley held up black mascara, smoky gray eyeliner, and hot pink eye shadow.

"Yeah, sure, it's good," the girl answered, surprised at how quickly the whole 'no-friends-thing' was forgotten so quickly.

"Close your eyes," Haley instructed, kneeling on the floor and advancing on Peyton.

Peyton felt the feathery touch of a pencil on her upper eyelid followed by a quick brush of what she assumed was eye shadow, then a slower, more deliberate one. "Are you sure this looks ok?" she asked as Haley slowly blew on her closed eyes. "You're not making me look like a clown, are you?"

"I promise, you look fine," Brooke assured the nervous girl as she fixed Peyton's knot of braids just so.

"Kay. You're done, and you're perfect. Now, open your eyes and go put on your outfit while Brooke and I get ready. And don't ruin your hair or makeup." Haley instructed looking at the funky purple clock next to her bed; 8:30. "Come on, Brooke," she added, "we gotta hurry."

As Brooke and Haley did their hair and put on their makeup, Peyton took a good, long look at herself in the mirror. Her hair was perfect, and her makeup perfectly matched her outfit. The shocking pink on her eyes matched the skirt to a T, and her eyes suddenly seemed more exotic with the eyeliner that had been applied. She smiled.

While Peyton was getting dressed, Brooke put on her makeup while Haley did her hair. When they were done, they switched. Brooke was pulling on a low cut green tank top just as she heard a car horn blaring outside. "Let's go!" she yelled, running down the steps. She managed fairly well, considering she was in knee-high boots, and a short plaid skirt.

"No, no, no," Haley screamed. "Tell them to wait for, like, five minutes!" She hurriedly finished her hair, accidentally spraying the hairspray into the air, defeating its whole purpose.

"Ok, hurry!" Brooke shouted back, pulling Peyton out the door.

Peyton felt Brooke pulling her arm, but she still couldn't believe what was happening. Here were these girls, these popular girls, she'd met only yesterday, helping her to pick out what to wear and hanging out with her. It was amazing. She'd never felt this way before. Never in a million years would she have guessed that Haley James, Brooke Davis, and she would be friends. Hanging out at each other's houses, talking about boys (which they did during the whole makeover thing) and helping each other pick out clothes. _**Well, actually, having them pick out my clothes**_. Thinking this, she let Brooke pull her out into the welcoming sunshine...and a new life.

Haley heard the door slam behind Brooke and Peyton as they ran out the door. She had to hurry. Haley quickly finished her hair and checked her makeup. _**Good, and good.**_ She smoothed down her brown skirt, and her light blue halter, added a few rings to her fingers, and ran down the steps.

Jake wasn't able to take his eyes off of Peyton as Lucas drove to school. _Man,_ he thought, _she looks so-_ he stopped himself just in time. He remembered that Peyton was able to read thoughts. He couldn't believe what a difference a little makeup and the right clothes had done. Falling for her, he realized, was not going to be hard. He never really thought that he and Brooke had much in common anyway.

Brooke took a long look at Lucas as she slid into his little red sports car. Squished between Haley and Peyton in the backseat, she thought about how much she really knew about him. _Stop it!_ She told herself. _He's Haley's boyfriend, and you're her best friend, for Christ's sake_. Still she couldn't help noticing that he was looking awfully good now that he'd changed. Looking at Haley, she saw that her friend was in deep thought. _I guess she's still trying to process all this stuff_, Brooke thought. _As you should be, _another part of her brain said, _instead of trying to think of a way to 'get in Lucas's pants' so to speak. _Brooke did the only thing she could think of then. Quoting Homer Simpson, she muttered, "Shut-up brain, or I'll stab you with a Q-Tip."

_What's with Brooke?_ Lucas thought as he glanced in the review mirror. She was staring at him again. And did she just mutter something? Shaking his head, he concluded that she was just in deep thought. _And boy, does she look good when she-_ _NO! You will not do this. You are in love with Haley…right?_

Haley chewed on her cuticles as she sat in the back of Lucas's car. She realized what she was doing when Lucas hit a small pothole and she bit the tip of her finger. "Dammit." She muttered as her finger pounded. And looking down she realized that she'd broken a nail. _Oh, well. Not like anyone will notice anyway, _she thought, noticing the looks that Brooke was giving Lucas, and the ones Jake and Peyton were exchanging. _No, it won't be long now before Lucas and I break up and Brooke and Jake call it quits. Then I guess it'll be as it is written…and I'll be alone, unless we can pull this off…_

_We're almost there._ Peyton thought as they stopped at the stop sign in front of the school. Lucas pulled up to the curb and turned off the car. "Ok," she heard him say. "Everyone out." One by one, the five friends piled out of the little red car. Brooke nearly tripped getting out and Peyton noticed that it was Lucas, not Jake, who helped to set her on her feet once more. _Good_, she thought. _Things are progressing quicker than I thought they would._


End file.
